Several deals are set to be closed in Poland in the final quarter of 2020 as investors resume negotiations on transactions which were put aside earlier in the year due to the pandemic, according to adviser Avison Young.
Research published by the firm on Monday reveals that a total €3.9 bn was transacted in Poland over the first nine months of the year, slightly down on the comparable result for 2018 and 2019.
Given that Q4 is traditionally a busy trading period, Avison Young said it expects ‘multiple deals’ to be closed in the final quarter.
The industrial sector took the lion’s share of the volume in the first nine months, accounting for €1.9 bn of the total. This result surpasses the figure for 2019 as a whole when €1.5 bn of industrial deals was transacted. The strong nine-month performance reflects the disposal of Goodman’s portfolio to GLP which was finalised in the third quarter, and confirms the significant investor interest in takeovers of whole companies and platform acquisitions.
In the retail sector, trading activity was dominated by transactions involving convenience schemes. Five out of the eight retail transactions concluded in Q3 2020 regarded convenience retail. The largest transaction since the start of the pandemic was the sale of five assets (Tyrion Portfolio) by Atrium European Real Estate to Metropol Group. Avison Young advised Atrium on the disposal.
Several retail parks also transacted as well as standalone retail schemes and retail properties with redevelopment potential.
The office sector chalked up €230 mln in the third quarter, bringing the total for the nine months to €1.6 bn. While this is significantly lower than the year-earlier figure, that result was boosted by the disposals of office skyscrapers such as Warsaw Spire, Warsaw Financial Centre and Warsaw Trade Tower, which pushed the 2019 volume high.
Summing up, Avison Young said that while it will be ‘difficult’ to match the record full-year volume achieved in 2019, investors are actively looking for new acquisitions and there around €2.5 bn of deals in advanced negotiations with closings forecast before the end of the year. ‘This proves that they still perceive Poland as an attractive place for allocating funds,’ the firm said.
